Parapsychology: Research on Exceptional Experiences 1st Edition

This book provides a concise overview of the field of parapsychology, i.e. the scientific study of exceptional experiences. All eighteen authors have legitimate academic or professional credentials and many have university affiliations; the volume reads more like a textbook than a new age primer. The end of chapter summaries, conclusions, and references are a valuable resource.My interest in this field stems from readings related to religion and mysticism. I wanted to see if there was scientific evidence that supported concepts such as the existence of a mind or soul that was separate from the body, life after death, reincarnation, etc. As I interpret the large number of studies in this book, the answer is a highly qualified maybe.One of the consistent finding across numerous experimental studies of different types (e.g. extrasensory perception, animal psi, healing, micro-psychokinesis, etc.) is that there is a small but undeniable "psi" effect, i.e. an effect that can not be attributed to what are traditionally thought of as "natural" causes. Though many potential explanations are offered, they remain highly speculative at this point.In addition to controlled experiments, there are many field studies, observational reports, and collections of anecdotes that utilize a methodology more similar to cultural anthropology than experimental psychology. Examples include investigations of apparitions, out-of-body experiences, near death experiences, precognition, and investigations of possible reincarnation. Frankly, I found these investigations more interesting than those from the laboratory and one must wonder if the very nature of significant psi events places them beyond the reach of experimental methods.I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in an open minded, scientific introduction to parapsychology. Those who are looking for a detailed study of a narrow aspect of parapsychology or those seeking justification for new age beliefs will be disappointed. What the book does offer is evidence that there is an enormous data set within parapsychology that has not be explained by natural means. This opens the door to alternate explanations and speculations, the fertile ground for both the scientific and religious imagination.

I gave this book 4 stars because it was too concise. This book is a concise overview of the field of parapsychology. I would not recommend this book as a good introduction to the field since it's not comprehensive or too detailed. Although the information is concise, the book still gets some good and fair points across like on ESP, NDEs, OBEs, etc. Another good thing about this book is that it mentions a lot of sources or references to refer to that pertains to the information in this book. I found that good so that I know the source for the ideas, explanations, or theories and that I can read up more on it from the if I need to. Nonetheless, I have still found no strong conclusive proof for any paranormal phenomena. The strongest case this book or parapsychology overall has as scientific evidence is for ESP through the Ganzfeld experiments. Even in this experiment the results are low but still above chance which for now may just mean that ESP is a weak ability in humans or a not so active one. I would recommend this book as just an additional overview on parapsychology but I would suggest to look elsewhere if you're looking for a comprehensive introductory overview of parapsychology.

This is a good overview and introduction to the field of parapsychology. If you're not into textbook learning and reading, you'll probably find this a pretty good challenge to finish. The book has some basic divisions according to generalized subject matter, beginning with an introduction to methodology and the sceptics. It then moves on through more specific aspects of parapsychology such as different types of cognition, remote viewing, out of body experiences, ghosts, etc. While there is some discussion of statistical studies in the first half of the book, the latter half becomes more theoretical and background information on the designated subjects. This is probably due to the increased difficulty of finding statistical analyses as it pertains to subjects like apparitions and reincarnation.This is a book that is likely to be seen in an introductory course on parapsychology and not something the lay person would necessarily start with. As such, the text is full of information, but is fairly dry, as textbooks usually are. However, it is a good, fairly thorough introduction to many aspects of the field of parapsychology, though today's ghost hunters would probably grow bored with it.

It arrived fast, looks new; I'm very pleased. Thank you.

Great thanks!